Pierre knew that the Ming people, or rather the Qing people, were very rich.
For example, Pan Zhencheng, the boss of Guangzhou's Thirteen Factories, had an estate of about one hundred million francs, with annual consumption of three million francs. His wealth was greater than that of a Western European king, and he was thus named "World's Richest Man" by "La Revue de Paris."
However, the French treasury was not lacking one hundred million francs, but a full two billion francs. Pan Zhencheng, the world's richest man, was indeed rich. But no matter how rich Pan Zhencheng was, it would still take the entire fortune of twenty Pan Zhenchengs to cover the French treasury's deficit.
Even if your Ming country is much better than the Tartar Qing country, can your Ming country produce twenty world's richest men?
You can't brag like that.
After thinking about it, Pierre felt that Zeng Cheng must have misunderstood the value of the franc.
Pierre then explained to Zeng Cheng: "Take Mr. Pan Zhencheng, the world's richest man from the Guangdong Thirteen Factories, as an example. His fortune is about one hundred million francs, which is about fifty million taels in your silver."
"And our French treasury's deficit is now twenty billion francs, which is one billion taels of silver."
"I think, let alone Mr. Pan Zhencheng, even the treasury of the former Great Qing dynasty, or your Ming dynasty's treasury, might not be able to come up with one billion taels of silver?"
Upon hearing the keywords "Ming dynasty's treasury" and "one billion taels of silver," Zeng Cheng couldn't help but feel fortunate for Pierre.
Fortunately, it was him today negotiating with Pierre. If it had been Liu Huaiwen, that stingy old man in charge of the Great Ming treasury, he would probably have killed Pierre on the spot – the entire Great Ming treasury didn't even have one million taels of silver, let alone ten billion taels?
Of course, while secretly feeling fortunate for Pierre, Zeng Cheng, the Prefectural Governor Zeng, did not take this one billion taels of silver too seriously.
In a sense, asking the Great Ming treasury to produce one billion taels of silver was simply absurd. Even if all the people in the five provinces of Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Shanxi, and Fujian currently under the Great Ming's rule were to be searched, they might not be able to gather one billion taels of silver.
The reason why Zeng Cheng, the Prefectural Governor Zeng, did not take this one billion taels of silver too seriously was entirely because this matter had nothing to do with the Great Ming, nor with Prefectural Governor Zeng himself.
If it were Prefectural Governor Zeng himself, let alone taking out ten billion taels of silver, even if Pierre dared to ask to borrow ten taels of silver, Prefectural Governor Zeng would directly break three of his legs.
Smiling and shaking his head, Zeng Cheng said with a smile, "In my opinion, your country's treasury deficit and your people's unrest are actually one and the same problem, two sides of the same coin."
"As long as the treasury deficit problem is solved, the problem of popular unrest will naturally be resolved. If the problem of popular unrest can be solved, then the treasury deficit problem is naturally not a big problem."
"Of course, it is indeed unrealistic to come up with one billion taels of silver to solve the treasury deficit, so why don't you, Mr. Pierre, think from another angle?"
Pierre pondered, isn't this nonsense? Who doesn't know that solving the problem of popular unrest will solve the treasury deficit problem? The key is, what do you use to solve the problem of popular unrest?
Can your Ming country give me ten billion taels of silver, or will you use your big mouth, Zeng?
And think from another angle?
If I could find a solution by thinking from another angle, would I need to come to the Far East to do business?
While Pierre was silently complaining, Zeng Cheng smiled and pointed outside the door, saying, "Mr. Pierre, have the unrest of the people under French rule ever been comparable to the unrest of the people under the former Great Qing? Or, if such unrest were to occur in France, what would happen to France?"
Upon hearing Zeng Cheng's words and thinking about the consequences of such an event, Pierre shivered immediately.
The former Great Qing dynasty was indeed renowned internationally. After all, the Great Ming had defeated the Dutch twice, and my Tartar Qing had overthrown the Ming dynasty. Who in the international community dared not to respect my Tartar Qing with a bit of deference?
Didn't you see that the Dutch, known as the "caravan of the sea," have always wanted to take action against Lan Su, but because they were wary of the existence of my Tartar Qing, they have not dared to act rashly until now?
However, such a mighty Great Qing dynasty collapsed almost overnight, and even the Tartar Qing emperor, Qianlong the dog, had to order a retreat back to Zhili.
If something like this happened in France, wouldn't France be finished?
If France were to be finished, Louis XVI, the King of France, would definitely be finished. If Louis XVI were finished, his cousin, yourself, even if not finished, would certainly not be much better off.
At the very least, the maritime trade in the Far East would fall into the hands of others, and the wealth you hold would shrink considerably.
If such a day were to come, how would you be able to support so many mistresses as usual? And with what would you raise so many illegitimate children?
While Pierre was being terrified by the scene depicted by Zeng Cheng, Prefectural Governor Zeng Cheng chuckled and then asked, "Then, Mr. Pierre, do you know why the former Qing dynasty suddenly became chaotic? Why did the common people all rise up with new slogans?"
Hearing Zeng Cheng's words, Pierre couldn't help but become a little curious.
Having spent so many years in the Thirteen Factories of Guangdong, Pierre was not an ignorant layman regarding the Great Qing dynasty. He knew something about my Tartar Qing's situation.
Before Zhu Jinsong, the Great Ming Emperor, occupied Shandong, there were indeed people who agitated for rebellion in the territories ruled by my Tartar Qing. Almost every year, there were people clamoring for rebellion to restore the Ming dynasty. However, it had never been like this time, as if overnight, the entire territory ruled by the Tartar Qing was filled with rebels, and even the Tartar Qing emperor had to voluntarily abandon those territories.
After thinking for a long time and failing to come up with a satisfactory answer, Pierre simply shook his head and said, "I really can't figure out why. Does Mr. Zeng know the reason?"
Zeng Cheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, there is nothing that cannot be said."
"First of all, our Great... His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor chose an excellent time."
"When His Majesty the Emperor just started his campaign, it was precisely near the end of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign. The winter that year was particularly cold, and Shandong only had a few snowfalls. This means that the next year would almost certainly have a drought, and drought means that a large number of people would not be able to eat."
"However, in the fiftieth year of Qianlong, just after the Lantern Festival, Emperor Qianlong of the Great Qing was about to undertake his sixth inspection tour of the south. Meaning, the people of Shandong would not only face an almost certain drought in the following year but also have to contribute labor for Emperor Qianlong. This means that all the people in Shandong would live a very difficult life, even struggling to survive."
"Mr. Pierre, you have been in the Thirteen Factories of Guangdong for so many years, you must have seen how difficult the lives of the common people under the rule of my Tartar Qing were, right?"
Pierre nodded. He made the sign of the cross over his chest and said, "God is my witness, I originally thought that the lives of French peasants were already very difficult, but I never imagined that there were people in this world who were even more difficult than them."
Speaking of which, Pierre looked at Zeng Cheng with sincere eyes and said, "Fortunately, you came. You overthrew the ignorant and extremely cruel rule of the Tartar Qing, allowing the people of this hundred-nation country to live good lives."
Zeng Cheng did not care how sincere Pierre's expression was, but he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
The timing chosen by His Majesty the Great Emperor for his rebellion was indeed excellent. First, Shandong was about to face a drought, and then the old dog Qianlong was going on his sixth southern tour, making the already difficult lives of the people even more arduous, even making it difficult to survive.
Under such circumstances, if no one took the lead in rebellion, or if someone took the lead but the disturbance was small, it would have been somewhat acceptable. However, if someone took the lead in rebellion and made a big disturbance, then my Tartar Qing would immediately be in a state of widespread conflict, and even if my Tartar Qing did not want to be finished, it would have to be.
In other words, if His Majesty the Emperor had rebelled a few years earlier, and if His Majesty the Emperor did not have so many whimsical ideas in his head, then it would have been His Majesty the Emperor who would have been finished instead of my Tartar Qing.
After secretly sighing with emotion, Zeng Cheng smiled and said, "What I am about to say next might not be pleasant to hear, and may even be a bit harsh. I hope you don't mind, Mr. Pierre?"
Pierre, who had already vaguely understood, repeatedly waved his hands and said, "No, no, I know you have a saying that 'good medicine tastes bitter but cures illness, and good advice sounds unpleasant but is beneficial for one's actions.' As long as it can help solve France's problems, I won't mind even if you speak harshly."
Zeng Cheng nodded slightly and smiled, "That's good."
"What I really want to say is that once people live difficult lives, the country will become unstable. If people cannot survive, they will definitely rebel. How similar is the current France to the situation of the Great Qing at that time?"
At this point, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but sigh and ask, "Then, Mr. Pierre, do you know what is the biggest reason that causes people to be unable to survive?"
Hearing Zeng Cheng's question, Pierre carefully considered and tentatively asked, "Is it because the Queen of France always builds gardens, spending too much franc, which causes problems with France's finances? And because France's finances are in trouble, the French people cannot survive?"
Zeng Cheng, however, shook his head and said, "My Tartar Qing's old dog Qianlong built many gardens and even went south five times. In terms of spending money, I'm afraid the money spent by your Queen is only a drop in the bucket compared to my Tartar Qing."
"In fact, from beginning to end, the Great Qing's finances have always been fine, or even if there were any problems, they were very minor, not enough to cause widespread chaos."
Hearing Zeng Cheng say this, Pierre couldn't help but become curious: "Since the Tartar Qing's finances were not a problem, why couldn't the common people survive? Where did the problem lie? Is it really just to rebel against the Qing and restore the Ming?"
After chatting with Pierre for so long, Zeng Cheng could finally be sure that it was not that what he was saying was too complicated, but that Pierre, this French barbarian, was too stupid. It was no wonder that His Great Emperor... His Majesty the Emperor had instructed not to speak in official jargon with these barbarians, as they truly couldn't understand.
Thinking of this, Zeng Cheng simply smiled and shook his head, saying, "If the Tartar Qing treasury's finances were in trouble, then the common people under the rule of the Tartar Qing would surely be unable to survive, but if the common people cannot survive, it does not necessarily mean that the Tartar Qing treasury's finances are in trouble."
"The main problem, in the final analysis, boils down to one word: officials."
"Taking your time in the Thirteen Factories of Guangzhou as an example, the customs duty rate stipulated by my Tartar Qing court was only 3.9%, while the actual tax rate you paid was around 50%."
"So the question arises – apart from the less than 4% customs duty collected by my Tartar Qing court, where did the remaining more than 40% of the tax money go?"
"This problem is equally applicable to your France. If France's treasury finances are in trouble, then the French people will be restless. However, if the French people cannot survive, it does not necessarily mean that France's treasury finances are in trouble."
"In the final analysis, the problem still lies in the word I just mentioned: officials."
Speaking of which, Zeng Cheng picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and said, "As the saying goes, all crows are black. If the officials of my Tartar Qing dynasty are corrupt, then the officials of your France may not be corrupt either. If the officials of my Tartar Qing dynasty cannot withstand investigation, then the officials of your France may not be able to withstand investigation either."
"As long as your King of France is willing to arrest a few wealthy corrupt examples, behead them, confiscate their property, and collect the money they use to support mistresses and raise illegitimate children into the treasury, and then allocate a small portion of it to buy some food for the people."
"What is this move called?"
"This move is called killing two birds with one stone. It not only helps to compensate for part of the French treasury's deficit but also helps the French court to establish a good image in the hearts of the French people."
"With money, Mr. Pierre can take a large number of cannons and flintlock guns back."
"As long as your King of France can control the army, cooperate with the cannons and flintlock guns developed by our Great Ming, and have enough cannonballs and bullets, even if the common people of your France really want to rebel, it's really no big deal."
"If they dare to rebel, suppress them fiercely, kill a batch fiercely, and confiscate their property."
"With fewer people, less food will be needed. Confiscating property will yield more money."
"See, isn't the problem solved?"
"With the problem solved, is there still any problem with Mr. Pierre's fief and titles?"